Opensource discussion on O:MF and what comes after.

[Payne]

That's some good shit in there.

Even though I know little of 5GW, I think there are a few bits and pieces in there that are quite similar to my own thoughts. I don't know if I have the capacity to pull them all together though, and make something more from this.

Still

[Cain]

A sort of artistic secret society, propagating what we consider useful memes, was where my mind originally went.  But recall, I was reading this at 1am and so was pretty tired.  I may have to think on it more.  But going back to Discordian roots, in a sense (in producing books, music, works of art etc which act as carriers for Discordian memes) was what immediately struck me as the obvious way to do this.

Of course, that requires going back to our trusty copies of The Art of Memetics and putting in some serious introspection.  As a basic prerequisite.

[Payne]

A sort of artistic secret society, propagating what we consider useful memes, was where my mind originally went.  But recall, I was reading this at 1am and so was pretty tired.  I may have to think on it more.  But going back to Discordian roots, in a sense (in producing books, music, works of art etc which act as carriers for Discordian memes) was what immediately struck me as the obvious way to do this.

Of course, that requires going back to our trusty copies of The Art of Memetics and putting in some serious introspection.  As a basic prerequisite.

On my "to do list"

Actually read the art of memetics (I still haven't, I have no idea why not)

Actually read your 5GW thread, instead of just skimming over it.

I may be able to make something with this if I give myself the tools to do so.

[Cain]

This may be of interest.  Its a segment from William Gibson's Pattern Recognition which Weeks mentioned, and which I read most of last night:



    [Bigend] "This business of ours is narrowing. Like many others. There will be fewer genuine players. It's no longer enough to simply look the part and cultivate an attitude."

    Cayce has imagined something like this herself, and indeed has been wondering whether she's likely to make it through the narrowing, into whatever waits on the other side.

    "You're smart enough," he says. "You can't doubt it."

    She'll take a page from his book, then. Caltrop time. "Why are you rebranding the world's second-largest manufacturer of athletic shoes? Was it your idea or theirs?"

    "I don't work that way. The client and I engage in a dialogue. A path emerges. It isn't about the imposition of creative will." He's looking at her very seriously now, and to her embarrassment she feels herself shiver. She hopes he didn't notice. If Bigend can convince himself that he doesn't impose his will on others, he must be capable of convincing himself of anything. "It's about contingency. I help the client go where things are already going. Do you want to know the most interesting thing about Dorotea?"

    "What?"

    "She once worked for a very specialized consultancy, in Paris. Founded by a retired and very senior French intelligence type who'd done a lot of that sort of work on his government's behalf, in Germany and the United States."

    "She's ... a spy?"

    " 'Industrial espionage,' though that's sounding increasingly archaic, isn't it? I suppose she may still know whom to call, to have certain things done, but I wouldn't call her a spy. What interested me, though, was how that business seemed in some ways to be the inverse of ours."

    "Of advertising?"

    "Yes. I want to make the public aware of something they don't quite yet know that they know — or have them feel that way. Because they'll move on that, do you understand? They'll think they've thought of it first. It's about transferring information, but at the same time about a certain lack of specificity."

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

This may be of interest.  Its a segment from William Gibson's Pattern Recognition which Weeks mentioned, and which I read most of last night:



    [Bigend] "This business of ours is narrowing. Like many others. There will be fewer genuine players. It's no longer enough to simply look the part and cultivate an attitude."

    Cayce has imagined something like this herself, and indeed has been wondering whether she's likely to make it through the narrowing, into whatever waits on the other side.

    "You're smart enough," he says. "You can't doubt it."

    She'll take a page from his book, then. Caltrop time. "Why are you rebranding the world's second-largest manufacturer of athletic shoes? Was it your idea or theirs?"

    "I don't work that way. The client and I engage in a dialogue. A path emerges. It isn't about the imposition of creative will." He's looking at her very seriously now, and to her embarrassment she feels herself shiver. She hopes he didn't notice. If Bigend can convince himself that he doesn't impose his will on others, he must be capable of convincing himself of anything. "It's about contingency. I help the client go where things are already going. Do you want to know the most interesting thing about Dorotea?"

    "What?"

    "She once worked for a very specialized consultancy, in Paris. Founded by a retired and very senior French intelligence type who'd done a lot of that sort of work on his government's behalf, in Germany and the United States."

    "She's ... a spy?"

    " 'Industrial espionage,' though that's sounding increasingly archaic, isn't it? I suppose she may still know whom to call, to have certain things done, but I wouldn't call her a spy. What interested me, though, was how that business seemed in some ways to be the inverse of ours."

    "Of advertising?"

    "Yes. I want to make the public aware of something they don't quite yet know that they know — or have them feel that way. Because they'll move on that, do you understand? They'll think they've thought of it first. It's about transferring information, but at the same time about a certain lack of specificity."

Ah Gibson, though that's one of my least favorite Gibson books, its a damn fine read!

[Rococo Modem Basilisk]

Why not view the self as a vast collection of separate entities (memes) that fight for temporary control of your body's agency? In that sense, there is no singular self, but instead a community of conflicting beings all of whom are selves.